Putting Out The Fire
by alimerin1
Summary: After the falling of the Falkreath Sanctuary, Andromeda is plagued with awful nightmares that replay the events of that horrible night. Thus, Andromeda tries to not sleep. Cicero knows of the Listeners actions, and wishes to help her. But, the nightmares may be part of a much bigger problem that even the Listener doesn't know about. OCxCicero. M for language and dark themes.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: This is a one chapter story following the OC Andromeda who is listener for the Dark Brotherhood. This takes place AFTER the Dark Brotherhood questline. It holds a slight flicker of romance between the mad jester Cicero and the listener Andromeda. I tried very hard to keep Cicero relatively the same, it is a bit difficult in the context of these fanfictions. But, I guess that is why it is called fanfiction. Positive comments are always well appreciated and constructive criticism is good. Just flat out dissing a story does not help any of us, don't like, don't continue reading or just don't read the fanfiction again. If you want more tales of Cicero and Andromeda, let me know. I could devote an entire story to them if wanted.**_

 _ **Also, my other stories are at a standstill because I have nowhere to bring them. I may try to work on them, but most are odds are discontinued at this point**_

 _ **Anyhow, enjoy and thanks for reading.**_

* * *

The smell of smoke and burning flesh. Two things burned into Andromeda's mind that served as a constant reminder of what she lost all those months ago. It was as if the silence of the void had crawled inside her head and emptied it to only remember sorrow and pain. Why Sithis had destined her to be burdened with a plague worse than any ailment Peryite could delve his followers, she couldn't understand. Andromeda worked hard to serve the dread father, killing the contracts, obeying their mother, even letting the fool Cicero live against Astrid's wishes. However, nothing could save her from her last evening at the Falkreath Sanctuary

* * *

Shadowmere's hooves slammed against the stone path as Andromeda clutched onto the reigns, her knuckles turning white as she neared the place she had called home for little over a year. The pit in her stomach grew and grew with each clop of her horse's hooves. Although she was certain she had lost the Penitus Oculautus back in Haafingar, she could not stop to eat or to sleep. Andromeda had even prayed to the gods she thought abandoned her long ago, hoping that for some reason she would be able to get to the Sanctuary before Commander Maro's men.

All of the sudden, she found herself outside of her home. The forest surrounding the area reeked of oil drums and burnt flesh, signaling that her prayers had gone unanswered. The Penitus Oculautus were outside, waiting for the other men to rejoin them, assuming that she was already dealt with. Andromeda felt the rage build up inside of her and the hot tears well in her eyes. It was a nightmare, an utterly unbelievable nightmare.

And revenge was all she sought.

Much of that night blurs into a mess, for Andromeda does not remember killing the men outside in a rage and she does not remember entering the Sanctuary. But she does remember seeing Festus stabbed into the tree, his bloodied body being held up by arrows. She remembers the smoke filling her lungs and trying to help save Arnbjorn. She remembers the anguish but refuses to remember anything else

* * *

Even though that night happened many moons ago, it still remained fresh as if only hours had passed. She and the remaining members of the Falkreath Sanctuary had decided to make Dawnstar their home, in an effort to rebuild and make a name for the Brotherhood once more. With the emperor dead, they were off to good start, but there was still much to be done.

"Can I even help lead the brotherhood if I'm doomed to restless nights?" Andromeda heaved a heavy sigh and leaned back in her wooden chair. The candles had begun to burn low, casting dim shadows on the walls of her room. It had to either be late into the night or early into the morning. Either way, she had not planned on going to bed any time soon. She instead was content with sitting in her chair at her desk and twirling a dagger into the wood, starring at partially blank journals that detailed her months after the unintended purification.

"I sleep when it is necessary but is that enough? If I am to fall at the hands of my nightmares, what would become of the family then?" Andromeda twirled the knife some more before grabbing the hilt and slamming it into the table, splintering the wood. "But when I sleep all I can hear is the emptiness of life inside of that...that...that tomb!" Pulling herself out of the chair, Andromeda faced the mannequin dressed in Commander Maro's armor, which she plucked off his lifeless body after she impaled him on a sword on the docks in Solitude. The anger boiled within her again and she grabbed the bottle of half-drunken mead off her desk, chucking glass at the wall beside it. It shattered into many pieces, and the liquid ran down the cold stone.

The anger fled her body as fast as it entered, causing Andromeda to sadly sigh and walk to the wall. She crouched down and began to pick up the shards of glass.

"Listener?" The creaking of the wooden door filled the empty silence, and the fool Cicero bounced inside as if nothing had transpired inside the once quiet room.  
"What do you need Cicero?" Andromeda focused on finding the glass shards in the dimly lit room, not even bothering to look at the jester.  
"Well Cicero was just on his way to oil mother when he heard glass break and he began to worry about the listener" Cicero walked around the wooden table, closely eyeing the dagger splintering the wood. "Does the Listener require any assistance from humble Cicero?"  
"No! I do not require any assistance, I am fine!" Andromeda snapped, hoping somehow he would read that she wanted to be alone and he would leave to tend to the mother. As she snapped, she squeezed a shard of glass in her hand, causing blood to trickle down her pale hand. With a small groan of pain, the Nord tossed the shard to the ground and rose to her feet. She turned her body and walked passed the jester, who only followed with his eyes. Andromeda walked up the stone steps to the dresser by her bed, opening the drawer she pulled out some bandages and proceeded to wrap her hand.  
"Dear, sweet, Cicero only wishes to help keep the listener safe to ensure the glory to our dread father" Persisting, Cicero began to clean up the shards himself, humming a soft tune to himself. Andromeda stared at the man as she finished bandaging her hand.  
"Cicero, please don't. You have other duties to attend to" She shifted her footing on the cold floor, yet did not move from her spot beside the bed.  
"Would be a shame if the sweet listener stepped on any broken glass inside of her room. Then she couldn't send any more wretched fools to the void"  
"A little glass would not kill me"  
"Ah, but you see, the glass can cause a wound and the wound could become infected. Which then would cause the listener to drop dead in her room. Then the family would be lost and poor Cicero would have to find a listener all over again" He rose to his feet and dumped the glass into a bowl on the nearby table. Andromeda slowly nodded as she watched the jester. Once he was done she exhaled and pointed to the door.  
"Okay, well you may leave now" She pulled her raven black hair back and stared at the floor, wishing to be returned to the silence where it was only her. Wishing she could just be in the void of nothingness.  
"Will the listener be going to sleep now?" Her green eyes widened to the size of the moons and she shot her gaze up. Nobody in the sanctuary had asked about her sleeping patterns previously, so she had assumed it had gone unnoticed, which she was fine with. Because if Nazir and Babette were to worry about her, Babette would probably mix some foul smelling potion for her to fall asleep. And only Sithis knows what Nazir would do, and Andromeda was not exactly keen on finding out.  
"What is this lunacy?" She let go of her hair and forced a chuckle to pass her lips. Normally she would consider herself a good actress, it came in handy when she needed to trick a contract into thinking she was somebody she wasn't. She hoped that the fool would be none the wiser and fall for similar ruses.  
"Cicero wakes up bright and early to tend to the night mother before the listener awakens and tells Cicero it is time to take care of another man or woman in the name of our dread father. However, as Cicero awakens in the morning he often hears the listener muttering to herself about flames and death. They should be happy topics, but the listener always sounds so sad. So, the clever Cicero decided to stay up all night a few weeks ago, and he heard the Listener once more speak to herself. And the listener is not like Cicero when she talks to herself"

Andromeda inhaled deeply before walking down the stone slabs once more. Her right hand moved to fiddle with the bandage on her left as she stood across the table from Cicero.

"Well, no. If you leave Cicero I will not be going to bed. I do not wish to fall asleep" Andromeda tried hard to keep her composure, despite being fairly annoyed with Cicero's unwillingness to leave her be.  
"No, no. That won't do! The listener needs her rest if she wants to help lead the sanctuary under the night mother"  
"I'm doing just fine, Cicero" She spat her words out like they were made of venom. Perhaps the words affected her so much because she knew that he was right, but she did not, could not, and would not sleep unless she absolutely needed too.

There was a silence between them, which caused Andromeda's demeanor to falter. She believed that she had begun to hurt the poor Jesters feelings, after all, he was just trying to help her and the Sanctuary. She did not have to raise her voice at him or snap at him.

"Cicero, I'm sorry. I just don't want to go to sleep. I can't stop thinking of the fall of our old Sanctuary" Her words only met more silence, which made the situation feel more awkward as usually, Cicero doesn't stop talking, "I mean, I understand having to kill Astrid. But Veezara, Festus, Gabriella, and Arnbjron, they didn't need to die. They followed things that they thought needed to be followed and followed Astrid because it is all they ever knew. And if I had gotten there just an hour sooner they may all still be alive and us having to rebuild the brotherhood from the ground up would not be happening. And I cannot force the smell of smoke, ash, and burnt flesh from my brain no matter how much I wish for it to be gone. Which is why I don't want to sleep because every time I close my eyes all I see is the people who brought me into their home horrifically dead. And in the end, it feels as if I am the one the blame" Her eyes became glassy as angry tears started to stream down her face. She took the sleeve of her tunic and wiped underneath her eyes.  
"Listener's fault? You? Now that's madness. It is not the listener's fault that the sanctuary went up in smoke. No, no, it is the betrayer Astrid's fault for trying to set you up! She defiled the sanctuary and made the rest of your family puppets"  
"But that doesn't mean they had to die!" The sobs from Andromeda began to spew out of her, and she hated herself for it. She was a Nord assassin for the Dark Brotherhood who killed the emperor, and here she was crying about how the purification of the Falkreath Sanctuary makes her lose sleep. She tried to breathe between the silent sobs to regain herself, but to no avail. "Please, Cicero, just go"

There it was. That silence. However, this silence was different because the two of them still stood in the same room together. Cicero, for once did not respond to her final speech. He instead hummed a soft tune as he usually does and approached her. He gently wrapped his arms around her and held her there. Andromeda's mind then became quiet as the Jester held her in his arms. Her rage, her anguish, her pain all seemed to melt away as she listened to Cicero's humming. For the first time in awhile, her body relaxed at the touch of someone else, causing her to lean into his embrace and close her eyes.

Cicero then positioned his arm around her, and walked her to the bed on top the risen platform. He helped her lay into the bed and laid the furs on top of her.

"Cicero must now go and tend to the night mother for he has duties as keeper he must attend to. However, dear sweet Cicero will be back to check on you and make sure you are sleeping soundly during the morning. Cicero will even instruct the rest of the family to keep away from your room as you have not been sleeping well" Andromeda could only let out a small noise of acknowledgement to his words, already beginning to drift into a dream world of her own. Cicero then proceeded to walk around the room and blow each of the candle out, softly mumbling to himself about having to buy more candles and a new table, before walking to the door.

"Good night, sweet listener"


	2. Chapter 2

_Day Two_

* * *

Andromeda must've slept for hours before finally raising herself out of her bed. She sat upright on the cozy bed, allowing the furs to drape down her shoulder, Andromeda looked around the room. The splintered table had been moved out while she slept, leaving an empty gape on the floor where she had spent the previous night drinking her cares away.

"Drinking... Sleep..." Andromeda fell back on the bed, allowing her pale arm to drape over her eyes. She had begun to drift back into the blissful dreamland before bolting up and flinging the furs off her small yet strong form, "Cicero!"

Andromeda swung her pale legs over the bed and trotted down the steps, the sound of bare skin hitting stone echoing around the room. She walked to the door before halting all her movements and looking down at her sleeping tunic. She couldn't go out and face the Brotherhood like that. It was not only indecent but not befitting for the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood.

"Shit... Shit... Shit" Andromeda ran from the door and back up the stone steps. She pulled the drawers from there place, searching for some robes or armor to wear back into the cold Dawnstar Sanctuary. She acted in a frenzy, forgetting all the composure she had trained herself to have as an assassin and focusing on making sure she could still look Cicero in his mad yet, ironically, trusting eyes.

After pulling on some assassin robes she never chose to wear before, as they were for mages, Andromeda pulled her raven black hair into a braid that draped down her shoulder. She approached the door, giving it a pull, it opened with a loud, creaking sound.

Cicero was singing a tune as he moped up some water that had dripped through the cracks of the Sanctuary, making sure his beloved mother stayed nice and dry in her new home.

Andromeda walked up the stone staircase, ready to speak to Cicero, when out of the blue.

"Listener!" Nazir sat at the wooden table and motioned for her to join him. Andromeda looked through the metal fence that separated her and the jester, before retreating back down the steps.

"What do you want Nazir?" Andromeda yanked a chair out from the table and seated herself against its wooden frame, bringing a foot to rest on the chair with her, the other foot was firmly placed against the cool stone.

"I was walking around the shore early this morning, and a man was looking for you. Said he had a letter" Nazir slid the envelope across the table to her. "I have no idea what it's about, and I don't care either. The sooner it's out of my hands, the better"

"If it bothered you so much, why did you take it from him?" Andromeda picked up the letter and held it between her fingers.

"Ah, yes courier. Come into our sanctuary, deliver your letter to our listener and stay for the torture-"

"Alright, alright. I understand" Andromeda waved her pale hand, signaling him to stop his chatter. With a small huff, she read the carefully written name across the top

 _Annie_

"Hmph, Annie" Andromeda looked at Nazir, who was taking a sip out of a mug. "Are you sure this came from a courier?"  
"While lying is something I'm good at, no. I did not write you a letter"  
Placing her hands on the table, she pushed out the chair and stood up, "Cicero!" Andromeda stomped up the stone stairs, searching for the jester.  
"Yes, Listener?" After setting the bucket of oil and brush down on the stone beside the Night Mother, Cicero met the Listener partway.  
"Did you tell a courier to deliver this letter to me?"  
"Why no, Listener. Why would sweet, innocent Cicero do such a thing like that?"  
"Because no one in all of Nirn would call me Annie unless they were dead set on being killed or crazy!"

Cicero remained unfazed by the possibility of being called crazy, and instead just shook his head.

"I swear on our Dread Father that Cicero would never have a courier deliver you a letter. No, no, Cicero would give a letter to the Listener himself"

Rather than continue the conversation, Andromeda put most of her weight on her left foot and ripped off the wax seal on the back, never breaking eye contact with the Jester. She flicked her eyes to the letter and scanned the words.

 _Dearest Annie..._

Cicero listened to Andromeda mutter to herself before she sealed the letter once more.

"I have to leave for awhile" the Listener started for the stairs again.  
"Ooh, goody! Cicero can join the Listener on another adventure"  
Andromeda didn't turn towards the man, she instead kept walking down the stairs to towards her room, "No, Cicero. I have to go on my own"

"Now Cicero can't let the Listener go out on her own" He followed her to her doorway and stood there. Somehow remembering it would seem odd for him to follow. Even though everything Cicero ever did was "odd"

"I'll be fine. Besides, I won't be gone long and I'm the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood" Andromeda went up the steps to the bed and yanked open her dresser drawer, "Anything that tries to kill me will be dead before they can say Sithis"  
"But what about when you're sleeping-"  
"I have no problems sleeping!"  
"-your guard is down and something can sneak up on you-"  
"Cicero…"  
"-And there will be no one to talk to dear, sweet, Cicero-"  
"Fine! You can come!" Andromeda ripped open travel backpack and began to fill it with food and various potions and poisons. "We are traveling to Solitude, should be a 4 days journey in total"  
"What are we doing in Solitude, Listener? Are we looking for another fool to send to the void?"  
"This is not Dark Brotherhood business, Cicero" Andromeda turned her back to the Jester, closing up her pack. Examining her robes she heaved a heavy sigh and walked down the steps once more. Since this was not Brotherhood business, it wouldn't be wise to wear any Brotherhood armor. She needed to make it to Solitude, and being arrested would throw her plan off course.  
"Well… Cicero will happily join the Listener on her quest to Skyrim's capital. As it is his duty to serve Sithis, the Night Mother and her" Cicero did a small bow before clapping. "I will pack and meet you on the shore!" And with that, the fool scampered away, humming some tune that was so familiar, leaving Andromeda alone.

* * *

 _A/N:_ _Originally, I hadn't planned out making this a story. But, I realized that I could add more to the story of Cicero and Andromeda. Of course, some ambiguities will be revealed as time passes. But, there is supposed to be an air of mystery. Like, "Why does Andromeda hate the name Annie?...Why does Andromeda have to go to Solitude?...Why is Cicero so dead set on going?"_

 _All will be revealed in due time_


End file.
